Stabilizing device for ice-cream tubs



July 20, 1954 G. E. RUPPERT 2,684,172

STABILIZING DEVICE FOR ICE-CREAM TUBS Filed May 21 1951 GED/FEE E2RL/PPERT INVENTORZ Patented July 20, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in refrigerated dispensingcabinets wherein ice-cream tubs are placed and from which ice cream iswithdrawn by the use of a scoop or the like.

Ordinarily these ice-cream tubs are placed one upon the other andprogressively used from the top to the bottom. One difiiculty with suchan arrangement has been that the top tub from which ice cream is beingscooped will rotate with respect to the supporting tub beneath it andtherefore requires the use of both hands of the operator, one to holdthe tub to resist rotation while the other hand is scooping the icecream.

Accordingly, it is one of the principal objects of my invention toprovide means in the form of a supporting base adapted to be placed uponthe top of a lower tub or any other support within the cabinet and toprovide means in the base for automatically gripping the tub supportedby the base and to prevent rotation of the tub with respect to the baseand the support.

Another object is the provision of a device of this character which isof lightweight, durable and inexpensive construction which may be castas a single unit or formed by a simple stamping operation.

These and other objects will appear as my invention is more fullyhereinafter described in the following specification, illustrated in theaccompanying drawing and finally pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a refrigerated storage and dispensingcabinet with a fragment broken away for convenience in illustrating myinvention operatively engaged with ice-cream tubs disposed within thecabinet.

Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the invention.

Figure 3 is an edgewise view of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view illustrating the mannerin which the base automatically engages the bottom edge or rim of anice-cream tub.

Referring now more particularly to the draw- In Figure 1 referencenumeral l indicates, generally, a refrigerated storage and dispensingcabinet having one or more storage compartments provided therein asindicated at 2 and 3. These compartments are of square formation in planview and separated by partition walls 5. The ice-cream tubs 5 and 6 areof cylindrical formation. Ordinarily the tubs are placed one upon theother within the cabinet as shown and when 2 the top tub is emptied itis placed in the bottom of the cabinet. It is to be understood of coursethat a top tub need not necessarily be supported by an empty tub on thebottom since obviously a box or any other suitable support of the properheight may be used.

Regardless of the type of bottom support used however, the top tub willrotate about its axis under the tangential pressure applied to it by theoperator in scooping out its contents. To prevent this rotation and tohold the top tub securely in place upon the bottom tub or support Iprovide a supporting frame generally indicated at l which is of squareformation and made up of side members 8, 9, Iii and II secured to orformed integral with a ring member i2 formed with intersecting bracesIt. At equally spaced points about the circumference of the ring [2 onone of its sides I provide a plurality of vertically disposed fins I4sharpened to a knife edge as at 15 and tapering downwardly toward thecenter of the ring. The distance between the top pointed ends ofdiametrically opposing fins is greater than the diameter of standardice-cream tubs while the distance between the bottom inner ends of thefins is of less diameter than the standard tubs. Ice-cream tubs in somecases are made entirely of metal while in other cases as shown in Figure4 the tub and bottom wall may be made of cardboard, fibre board or thelike and secured together by a metallic rim I6.

When a loaded tub of either type of construction as aforesaid is loweredinto the cabinet and comes to rest upon the fins M the knife edges ofthe fins will automatically form indentations in the rim is of the tuband by means of which the tub is locked to the frame and held againstrotation while the frame which is of square formation is prevented fromrotating within the square compartment.

While I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention, I amaware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves toothers skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Having thus described my'invention, what I claim as newand desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

In a refrigerated cabinet having one or more compartments of squareformation in plan view and receiving tubs of cylindrical formationstacked one upon the other or one upon a suitable support within saidcompartment, the combination of a flat frame of square formation in planview placed within a compartment, a flat ring member formed integralwith said frame and disposed on the interior thereof, fiat intersectingbraces formed integral with the inner periphery of the ring, a pluralityof diametrically opposed vertical fins extending upwardly from said ringand each tapering inwardly toward the center of the ring and eachsharpened along its tapered portion, the distance between the top endsof the fins being greater than the diameter of one of said tubs placed.thereon and the distance between the inside bottom ends of the finsbeing less than the diameter of the tub whereby the tub will be held inan elevated position with respect to the frame when resting upon thefins, and whereby said sharpened portions of the fins will grip thebottom rim of the tub by means of the sharpened portions of said finsforming indentations in said rim to prevent rotation of the tub withrespect to the frame and whereby said square frame will be held againstrotation by placement within said square compartment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 114,450 Laurence May 2, 1871 232,761 Boelofs Sept. 28, 18497,999 Windus May 23, 1893 667,895 Stone et a1. Feb. 12, 1901 775,191Reeve Nov. 15, 1904 1,973,216 Manning Sept. 11, 1934 2,350,075 Smith May30, 1944 2,466,875 Brandt 1 Apr. 12, 1949 2,601,935 Auch July 1, 1952

